He's known for his skills on the field, but Cristiano Ronaldo has also had a fascinating life behind the scenes
Cristiano Ronaldo has shared that he is grateful for his family.
The soccer player, 39, took to Instagram to post a photo of his family during their vacation in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo is surrounded by his wife, Georgina Rodríguez, 30, and their children: daughter Alana Martina, six, twins Eva Maria and Mateo Ronaldo, seven, whom he welcomed via surrogacy, and his son Cristiano Ronaldo Jr.
"My life," the athlete wrote in the caption of the photo of the family on a yacht.
For Ronaldo, family is everything; read on to see his life in pictures...
Cristiano Ronaldo didn't grow up with much.
The soccer star was born on the Portuguese island of Madeira in 1985 as the youngest of four siblings.
His mum worked as a cleaner and his dad a gardener, but finding out that Ronaldo was on the way wasn't happy news for them.
In her 2014 autobiography, Mother Courage, Ronaldo's mother, Maria Dolores, revealed that she had wanted to terminate her pregnancy because she already had too many kids and not enough money.
"I wanted to abort but the doctor didn't support my decision," she said in her book, going on to explain that she drank warm ale and "ran till she dropped" without achieving her goal.
In her memoir, she shared that her soccer star son had known for a while, going on to reveal his understanding reaction.
"He told me when he found out, 'Look mum, you wanted to abort and now I'm the one who's pulling the purse-strings in the house'," Dolores wrote.
Now, Ronaldo is one of the most well-known names in the sporting world, as well as being the most followed person on Instagram.
He was first signed to Manchester United in 2003 by Sir Alex Ferguson for a whopping $22 million, breaking the England record for a teenager.
He's since gone on to become one of the world's most esteemed football players, and is today raising a family of his own.
Ronaldo was just 25 years old when he welcomed his first child, something he said he had always dreamed of.
"It was always my dream to have a child young, when I was 25," he told Spanish news agency EFE. "He's changed the way I think, he's always with me, supporting me."
Ronaldo welcomed Christiano Ronaldo Jr. on June 17, 2010.
He shared the news in a tweet, writing, "It is with great joy and emotion that I inform I have recently become father to a baby boy."
However, there was one part of his child's life that Ronaldo promised he would never share, still upholding this promise today.
"As agreed with the baby's mother, who prefers to have her identity kept confidential, my son will be under my exclusive guardianship," he continued in his Tweet.
"I request everyone to fully respect my right to privacy (and that of the child) at least on issues as personal as these are."
In 2015 the soccer star spoke with Johnathan Ross, detailing why he has kept the identity of his son's mother private.
"Some points in life are private and people have to respect the privacy. When Cristiano is going to grow up, I am always going to say the truth to him because he deserves it, because he is my son," Ronaldo explained.
"But I am not going to say [it just] because people want me to say."
After welcoming his son, Ronaldo found love.
The athlete soon began dating Russian model Irina Shayk. The couple were together for five years, before announcing their split in 2015.
"After dating for five years, my relationship with Irina Shayk has come to an end," Ronaldo said in a statement shared with the BBC. "We believed it would be best for both of us to take this step now. I wish Irina the greatest happiness."
But the loss of romantic love didn't stop Ronaldo from growing his family solo.
Two years later, Ronaldo become a single father of three and he couldn't have been happier.
On June 30, 2017, he took to Facebook to announce the birth of twins whom he welcomed via surrogate.
"So happy to be able to hold the two new loves of my life 🙏❤," he captioned a sweet image of him holding both babies, Eva and Mateo.
But weeks later, everything in Ronaldo's life changed.
Just months before welcoming Eva and Mateo, Ronaldo met Georgina Rodriguez.
The pair met when Rodriguez was working as a shop assistant at Gucci, and they soon began dating.
"Many times he'd come after work," Rodriguez said of the early days in her documentary, I Am Georgina.
"He would come, I remember once, once in a Bugatti. My coworkers went crazy. They get there on the bus, and I would leave in a Bugatti. I mean people couldn't believe it."
It wasn't long before they made their first official appearance not just together, but as a family, attending the Best FIFA Football Awards alongside Cristiano Jr.
After welcoming the twins, Ronaldo and Rodriguez were still going strong, posting photos of the pair with their newborns to Instagram.
But it all changed just weeks after the birth, when the couple announced they were now expecting another child.
The news came during an interview with Spanish news outlet El Mundo when Ronaldo was asked if he was excited about his new baby on the way, to which he responded, "yes, very".
In August, Rodriguez debuted her baby bump in a very grand way.
She appeared on the cover of iHOLA! showing off her small bump in a skin-tight black mini dress.
During the interview, she opened up about her role in her family, sharing that she likes to surround herself with people who have "good energy".
"I'm very family oriented, I love kids, nature and animals," she said. "I like to surround myself with those who inspire me to be a better person every day and who have good energy."
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